My Birthday

I had a great birthday! It happened to land during Fall Break for family members that live in Gilbert and Mesa. They were able to come and visit for a family party that became a birthday party for me! How fun! We also had the party on my late father in-law's birthday so it was nice to remember him.

My niece and I taking a picture of each other.

The Gale's having fun.

Instead of a birthday cake I had made chocolate pie. Yummy!

Again, it was a lot of fun! I also got money from my mother in-law which I used for my Zumba classes; I am having a blast at those classes! I also got a cookbook that gives recipes that I can freeze for later. Good stuff in there! Thanks for everyone that wished me a happy birthday on Facebook and on the phone!

A Quick Labor Day Post

For Labor Day we had a BBQ with family and friends. It was bring your own meat and David and I decided to grill a 2 lb steak that we cut in half to share. The steak was delicious! Then it was visiting and playing the rest of the evening...

All the adults talking.

The men playing some football.

Here is my sister in law's niece, Dolly. Such a ham :)... and yes her name is Dolly.

My niece Jenna showing me her "mad" face.

The Good, the Sad, and the Lovely

THE GOOD: My summer fun started with Sam's 2nd birthday swimming party.

Sam rockin' out with his new guitar.

Panoramic picture of the fun party.

My mom visiting during the 4th of July.

The donuts my mom found at Walmart. I bought them for the annual Bellybutton BBQ.

Our camping trip that was going to last for 3 days...

Big beetle...

dead beetle :)

Hanging out...

starting to have fun...

THE SAD: Unfortunately, my father- in- law passed away on a motorcycle accident, thus ending our camping trip...

This plant we got from the funeral. It started out healthy until David, not listening to me, left it in our car in the 100 degree + weather and well, this is what happens when you do that.

The handsome pallbearers.

All of the Gale clan except two who were in Utah for college stuff.

AND THE LOVELY: We had two sewing classes at church and I really enjoyed them. Might have to get a sewing machine soon :)

Love the headband. I especially like making the button.

My new purse I made. I am planning to add three buttons, because they are fun to make, across the striped area.

In the end, this summer had been fun. It was nice visiting and hanging out with family, no matter why we were all together. I also enjoyed learning new things.

Our New (used) Car

This last year we got a car that has been in my family for awhile now. It needed some work, mainly because it had an unfortunate flooding accident. The last two months David has been fixing it and the last thing to do was put in new carpet. Here are some before and after pictures of that fun day:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here I am cleaning the seats.

So, the car looks great and I had to relearn how to drive it since it is a manual. I am getting the hang of it and it's nice to be able to drive around again.

Last Week at Work

My last week at the school where I worked was really fun. We took our class on a field trip to my teacher's house for a water day. I bought a $4 water gun so I could participate in the water fight. On Wednesday we had a teachers and aides vs. 6th and 5th graders softball game. We won 13-8! On Thursday the school had a field day with every class having a station. Our class was the refresher station with cold water and Otter Pops. Another cool station was the 6th graders water balloon launch. Every class could have stayed there forever :) Then, on Friday the school did their annual mousetrap races and BBQ. While waiting for the fun I played with my new camera that I had gotten the day before. Here is a picture of my classroom using a feature I wanted on my new camera:

It was a fun school year!

SWEET!

My awesome husband surprised me today with a new camera! I love it! Here's what kind:

Sony Cyber-shot W350 Black 14.1MP Digital Camera, 4X Optical Zoom & 2.7" LCD

The Sony Cyber-shot captures images with amazing detail with its Carl Zeiss 26mm equivalent wide-angle 4x zoom lens. Take breathtaking panoramas in Sweep panorama mode and review them on a 2.7" LCD. Record 720p high definition movies on the Sony Cyber-shot, while Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, iAuto and Face Motion Detection makes taking great images in various conditions easy.

Can't wait to learn everything and show new pictures here!

I looked out the window...

I just love spring in our backyard. This tree is directly out our kitchen window and it is a pretty view. I think this is the fullest it's been since we have lived here. I love it.